


so familiar a gleam

by thewalrus_said



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 14:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11510895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewalrus_said/pseuds/thewalrus_said
Summary: The man was beautiful, Yuuri thought, staring up at the statue in front of him. Or had been, before he had run afoul of the Creature in the woods. Now he was gray, and rough to the touch, one eye permanently hidden from view by the sweep of stone hair in front of it. He was clad in armor - a knight, then. Likely on the same quest as Yuuri. Another casualty of the Creature, struck dumb in his search for treasure, no true love at hand to wake him.That would not be Yuuri’s fate, though. Yuuri was apparently destined to die of thirst, or be eaten by some animal, long before the Creature could turn its stultifying gaze on him.





	so familiar a gleam

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh, I'm so excited to finally be sharing this! These two deserve all the fairy tales they can get, and as soon as I saw the art I knew I had to write one. Thanks to [penguinplushie](http://penguinplushie.tumblr.com/) for the amazing art, and I hope you enjoy the story!

The man was beautiful, Yuuri thought, staring up at the statue in front of him. Or had been, before he had run afoul of the Creature in the woods. Now he was gray, and rough to the touch, one eye permanently hidden from view by the sweep of stone hair in front of it. He was clad in armor - a knight, then. Likely on the same quest as Yuuri. Another casualty of the Creature, struck dumb in his search for treasure, no true love at hand to wake him.

That would not be Yuuri’s fate, though. Yuuri was apparently destined to die of thirst, or be eaten by some animal, long before the Creature could turn its stultifying gaze on him.

Yuuri pushed himself up onto his elbows, crying out as his ribs creaked and his ankle screamed in pain. He had fallen, sliding some thirty feet down the incline to his right, landing hard on the statue of the mysterious knight, wrenching his ankle and bruising his ribs. He had made three attempts to splint his ankle since landing, each time thwarted by the agony in his chest and legs that sent him flat on his back, gasping.

This time, however, he stayed up, managing to adjust his position enough to lean against the statue’s bended legs. There was an arm across them, hand hanging almost languidly over his knee, and Yuuri pressed his face into it until the throbbing subsided and he could breathe without sobbing.

“At least I’ll have company in my final moments,” Yuuri said to the statue. “It won’t be long.” Yuuri could almost hear Phichit’s voice in his head, scolding him for not carrying more food and water. “It weighs me down,” Yuuri murmured in response to his friend’s shade. “There’s only two days between outposts, and I brought enough for three.” _But then you spent a day hiding in a tree from a huge cat_ , the shade retorted, _and another half-day to be safe. And it wasn’t even that safe, because the same cat threw you down the cliff, and now here you are._

“Oh, hush,” Yuuri said. “It’s not as though I want to die.” He truly, desperately, angrily did not want to die, the will to live thumping like a drum in his stomach, but there was no way out of this that Yuuri could see. He would be dead of thirst long before his ankle healed enough to allow him to walk without a splint, assuming the great cat didn’t get him first. No other knight would likely come this way for a solid half-year, and he was well off the beaten trade route between outposts. “I’m on my own.” Yuuri leaned his head back against the arm. “Except for you, fellow traveler. I envy you your demise, quick and painless. Thirst is an awful way to go, I have heard.”

Yuuri dozed, head supported between the statue’s elbow and knee, his own leg stretched out in front of him. He dreamed of cats, teeth, and falling, and when he woke the world was dark and cold. The stone where his cheek had rested was warm, but the rest of him was shivering. His mouth was dry, and his stomach empty.

Yuuri stared at the stone arm, thinking. His trainer, back when Yuuri had been an apprentice knight, had been fond of saying that survival was everything, that nothing else mattered when survival was on the line. “No matter how stupid or illogical it may seem, if you have an idea, try it,” Celestino had said, over and over until Phichit and Yuuri were repeating it in their sleep. “Better to feel like an idiot and survive, than die knowing you didn’t try everything you could to stay alive.”

“Thirst, predators, or cold,” Yuuri said, after a long period of staring at the statue’s arm. He sat up and twisted to look at its face, wincing as his ribs protested the twist. “Those are my options. Thirst, predators, or cold. Or find help.” Certainly no help would find him. “At least there’s no one around to see.” He leaned forward, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips to the cold stone hand.

He felt his warm breath reflected back to his mouth and sighed, leaning back. The stone warmed under his breath, and he pressed his forehead to the unmoving hand. There was no sign of life. “I tried. Forgive my impudence, knight, but I had no other hope.” Yuuri turned and tucked himself back into the statue’s embrace, letting sleep overtake him once again.

“Stay with me,” someone said into his ear an indeterminate amount of time later, cutting through the darkness of his dreams. “Stay with me, don’t go, wake _up,_ ” and then Yuuri felt a hand on his face and he woke fully, eyes flying open.

“There you are,” the statue said, one hand still warm on Yuuri’s cheek while the other rifled through an unfamiliar rucksack at his side. He beamed down, thumb moving slowly across Yuuri’s skin. “I wasn’t sure how far gone you were, I was terrified you wouldn’t wake.”

“You - what’s happening?” Yuuri managed, trying to move away and grimacing with the pain in his leg.

“Hold still,” the statue said. “I’ll introduce myself in a moment, but first we need to get this splinted. Here.” He passed Yuuri a canteen from his rucksack. The water tasted vaguely of rock and dirt, but Yuuri gulped it down as though it were wine, draining half before remembering himself and passing it back. “I’m afraid this is going to hurt,” the statue said, “and I haven’t any drink to make it easier.” He pulled a standard medical kit from the rucksack and pulled out the necessary supplies. “Can you stand it?”

“I’ll be fine.” Yuuri lay back and shoved a fist in his mouth as the statue started working the boot off his injured foot. By the time his ankle was splinted and his sock was back on, Yuuri had drawn blood around his knuckles.

“Thank you,” Yuuri gasped, once his breath was back. “I couldn’t manage it on my own. You likely saved my life.”

“We’re even, then, for you saved mine first,” the statue said, looking over his shoulder. Yuuri followed his gaze to the spot where the statue had been sitting, now vacant. “Yes, that was me,” he said, turning to see Yuuri staring at it. “You woke me.”

“That’s...” Yuuri trailed off. It clearly _was_ possible; it had happened, and the face smiling at him now was the same one that had been carved in stone the day before. “Your hair is the same color,” Yuuri said instead.

The statue - the man - smiled even wider. “What’s your name?”

“Yuuri. Katsuki Yuuri.”

“Viktor Nikiforov,” the man said, and Yuuri started to laugh. Hurt crept across Viktor’s face. “What?”

Yuuri got hold of himself, gasping in air to stifle the hysteria bubbling at the back of his throat. “I’m sorry. It’s just - you’re really him? Viktor Nikiforov?”

“You’ve heard of me?” Viktor frowned. “How?”

“In stories.” Yuuri had been young, not even a man yet, when the famous knight Viktor Nikiforov went missing, and his mother and father had told him bedtime tales of his exploits even before that. “You’re the most famous knight of the age, of course people tell stories of your disappearance.”

“Disappearance...” Viktor looked over at his old resting place again. “How long has it been?” he asked, not turning around. “Since I disappeared.”

Yuuri hesitated. “Five years.” Viktor’s head bowed. Yuuri reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Viktor said, voice thick. He did turn then, giving Yuuri a weak smile. “You prevented it from being any longer.” He took the hand Yuuri still had on his shoulder and brought it to his mouth, pressing a kiss to his fingers. “Thank you.”

“I - you’re welcome.” Yuuri knew the stories about those turned to stone by the Creature, and clearly Viktor did too, by the look in his eyes. Yuuri pulled his hand back and looked down.

“Where were you headed?” Viktor asked after a few minutes’ silence. “And how did you come to be hurt?”

“I fell.” Yuuri pointed at the cliff. “There was some sort of large cat, it was chasing me and knocked me down. I fell into you, actually.”

Viktor huffed a laugh. “That can’t have cushioned the landing any.”

“Not especially. And I was doing the same thing you were, I expect.” Viktor raised an eyebrow, and Yuuri went on, “Chasing treasure.”

“Mmm. I wasn’t chasing treasure.” At Yuuri’s look, Viktor went on, “My brother went missing in these woods, a year - well. Six years ago now, I suppose.”

“I’m sorry.” Yuuri racked his brain for a few moments, and then shook his head. “I didn’t even know you had a brother. They don’t put that part in the stories.”

“I have - had two.” Viktor’s face twisted into a sad half-smile, half-frown. “And a sister. Who knows if they’re still alive.”

“I can think of no reason why they wouldn’t be,” Yuuri said, desperate to wipe that look off Viktor’s face. “Just because I haven’t heard of them. I grew up far from the Capitol. And you’re awake now, you can go and find them.”

“You’re right.” Viktor stood, brushing his hands off on his trousers. “But not before we get you to safety. If I help you, do you think you can walk?”

“Probably not,” Yuuri admitted, “but I’ll try anyway. Help me up?” He extended a hand, and Viktor took it, pulling him to one unsteady foot.

Yuuri, in fact, could _not_ walk, but he could lean heavily on Viktor and shuffle his good foot along to help carry his weight. With Viktor’s arm wrapped firmly around his back and his own over Viktor’s shoulders, they slowly made their way out of the clearing.

It took two days to get to the outpost Yuuri had been aiming for. The innkeeper ran out to meet them on the road, moving to take Yuuri’s other arm. “We expected you days ago,” he said, “and alone. What happened?”

“Best not,” Viktor said before the man could slide his arm around Yuuri’s back. “We’ve got a delicate system here, we’ll be able to make it indoors.” The innkeeper backed off and looked at Yuuri.

“I fell, wrecked my ankle and my ribs,” Yuuri explained, wincing as they moved. Two days carrying another fully-grown man was quite an exertion, and he had begun using his injured ankle to help as much as he could without Viktor noticing. “I got stuck, but -” How would he explain? _I found my true love by accident and he saved my life?_

Viktor, once again, came to the rescue. “I happened to be nearby and found him before the thirst took him.” Yuuri flashed him a grateful smile when the innkeeper ran forward to open the door for them. “I figured we could keep the details to ourselves for the time being,” Viktor murmured into Yuuri’s ear.

“Agreed,” Yuuri whispered back, and then they were through the door and Viktor was lowering him onto a soft sofa and gently lifting his bad ankle up as well.

The innkeeper had some medical training, as all did this far into the woods. He piled ice onto the swollen ankle and prescribed bed rest for a solid week before Yuuri could think of moving on.

“Easily done,” Yuuri said, “if you don’t mind my trespassing on your hospitality that long? I haven’t much money on me.”

The innkeeper waved a hand. “I don’t need your money. That’s what this place is for, after all. Will you be staying as well?” he added over his shoulder to Viktor, who had been hovering all throughout his examination.

Viktor nodded. “If that’s alright?”

“Fine, fine.” The innkeeper hauled himself to his feet. “I’ll get some food going.” He left the room, and Viktor sat carefully by Yuuri’s legs.

“I would think you would want to move on,” Yuuri said, after a few minutes of silence. “Find your family.”

Viktor shook his head. “It’s been five years, they can wait a bit longer. After all,” he added, after a few beats of awkward silence. “They couldn’t expect me to come back without my - my rescuer.”

Yuuri shook his head. “I can’t just go back to the Capitol, even once my leg’s healed. I’m on a quest, I have to keep going until I succeed, hit an impassable block, or die.”

“An official quest?” Viktor asked. Yuuri nodded. “Well, I’ll just have to come with you, then,” Viktor said. “Once you’ve healed up enough, we’ll set out.”

“I - you don’t have to -”

“Yuuri.” Viktor reached out, covering Yuuri’s hand with his own, where it twitched on the cushion under his leg. “I want to. As far as my family is concerned, it’s only been three months since I saw them for me, and it’s not as though they’re waiting for me to come home anymore.” His face went soft and sad at that, and Yuuri had to fight the urge to turn his hand over and hold Viktor’s properly. “Besides,” Viktor went on, composing himself. “I’m not at all sure I’ll see you again if I leave now, and that’s the last thing I want.”

Yuuri sighed, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling for a moment. “Viktor, we just met. I can’t - I can’t be more important to you than your family, not yet.”

“Not yet,” Viktor repeated, hand still over Yuuri’s. “But you could be. You _woke me up,_ Yuuri, that has to mean something.” He bit his lip. “If you want me to go, I’ll go. It’s up to you. But know that if it were up to me, I wouldn’t leave your side.”

Yuuri looked at him. “Well,” he said eventually. “At the very least, my trainer would never forgive me if I turned down help, especially after nearly getting myself killed once.”

Viktor beamed at him.

\--

One month later saw the two of them sitting on a fallen log deep in the woods, tearing into a rabbit Viktor had trapped earlier that day. “We must be close,” Viktor said between mouthfuls. “This is right where the map directed us.” The innkeeper at the last waystation they had passed through had given them a surprisingly well-drawn and detailed map, indicating the likeliest location for the Creature’s current lair. “But the animals aren’t thinning out at all.”

“Maybe the Creature doesn’t affect animals?” Yuuri suggested, wiping his hands on a leaf. “We haven’t seen any animal statues, and the human statues are getting more and more frequent.”

“We’ll have to send a team for them once we’ve dealt with the Creature,” Viktor said darkly. “Get them back to civilization, see if we can’t wake some of them up.”

“Assuming we don’t turn to stone in the process.”

“We won’t.”

Yuuri snorted. “Such confidence in our abilities.”

“Yuuri.” Viktor waited until Yuuri looked up at him. “We already know we can wake each other up. It’s unlikely that the Creature can turn both of us to stone in the same instant, so as long as one of us remains unfrozen, both of us will survive.”

Yuuri flushed, looking down again. “We know I woke you up, _once._ That’s hardly an indication that it will work again, or the other way.”

Viktor leaned close and murmured as though imparting a secret. “Therein lies my confidence,” he said. He leaned back and winked, making Yuuri flush again. It was getting harder and harder not to kiss him as the days passed. Viktor had given up casually touching him after a week of travel, now only reaching for Yuuri to help him over a fallen tree or get his attention when quiet was needed. Yuuri’s skin itched with the lack.

Yuuri slid off the log and stretched out along the ground, staring up at the darkening sky. “Your brother,” he said, after a quarter of an hour had passed, and the sounds of Viktor’s eating had ceased.

“What about him?” Viktor slid off the log as well, sitting with his back against and and turning his gaze onto Yuuri. He often sat like that, Yuuri had noticed - one arm dangling over his knee. The same pose he had been in while frozen.

“You said you were looking for him, when you got - got caught,” Yuuri said, turning his gaze back to the sky. “Why did you think he would be in that area?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuri saw Viktor shrug. “Last known sighting,” Viktor said. “Someone I knew, knew someone who knew someone who’d seen a young blonde boy running through the forest in that area. So I came.” Viktor drummed his fingers against his leg. “There were no waystations then,” he added, abruptly. “I was on my own for food and shelter, and the paths were less clear.”

Yuuri nodded, giving in and turning onto his side to face Viktor. “They’re relatively new,” he explained. “The Capitol set them up to aid knights questing for the Creature. When so many never came back, the crown wanted to remove as much difficulty on the way as possible, so they set up waystations in the forest, clearing out paths and roads as they went.”

“Did it help?” Viktor asked. “Did more knights start coming back?”

“A few. Not many.” Yuuri sat up, moving to rest beside Viktor against the log. “What was your brother’s name?”

Viktor let out a soft laugh. “Wouldn’t you know it, he was called Yuri too. Yuri Plisetsky.”

“Different last names,” Yuuri said, but before he could say more, a figure stepped out from the shadowy trees in front of them. Yuuri threw one arm over his eyes and grabbed for his sword with the other; he could feel Viktor doing the same behind him.

“It’s okay,” the figure said. Yuuri could hear his footsteps stop as soon as their swords were drawn. “It’s okay, I’m not the Creature. I won’t harm you, I’m a knight too.”

Behind their arms, Yuuri and Viktor looked at each other. Viktor raised an eyebrow. Yuuri bit his lip, nodded, then lowered his arm and looked at the newcomer. “It’s alright,” he said to Viktor after a handful of seconds. “I’m not stone.”

“Damn,” Viktor said quietly, giving him a small grin before lowering his own arm. “I did so want to kiss you.”

“Not now,” Yuuri murmured back, pushing himself to his feet. “Who are you?” he asked the newcomer. “You said you’re a knight?”

“Yes.” He was shorter than Yuuri had realized from the ground, and he stepped closer as he talked. “My name is Otabek Altin.”

“Altin - I’ve heard of you,” Yuuri said. “You’re the one who dropped out of the training course, right?”

“I finished my training on my own, and got my shield legitimately,” Otabek said. “But we don’t have time for this right now. You,” he added, point at Viktor. “Did you say your brother’s name was Yuri Plisetsky?”

Viktor thew Yuuri a wide-eyed glance and nodded. “Do you know something about him?”

“Are you Viktor or Georgi?”

Viktor gaped. Yuuri reached back and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m Viktor,” Viktor said. “How do you know that? Do you know him? Where is he?”

“I do know him, and I know where he is,” Otabek said. Yuuri could feel his knuckles turning white with the force of Viktor’s hand. “Pack your things and come with me. I’ll take you to him.”

There was no question of whether it was wise to trust the mysterious knight in the forest, or whether they should wait until morning to go. Viktor shoved the remains of their meal into his bag with a carelessness Yuuri hadn’t seen in him before, and Yuuri barely had time to pack his own things before Viktor took his hand again and they were off.

All Otabek would say was, “He’s not far,” and that only when asked. He seemed nearly as anxious as Viktor to get back to Yuri, wherever he was. The paths he was leading them through were barely wide enough for one person, let alone two abreast, but Yuuri was as unwilling to take his hand back from Viktor as Viktor was to give it back, and they muddled through as best they could.

Finally, as the moon reached its highest point, Otabek halted and turned. “He’s just in the next clearing. Wait,” he interrupted himself, throwing an arm out to stop Viktor charging forward. “Wait. I’ll go in and speak to him. It’s too dangerous for either of you just yet, for you or for him.”

Viktor opened his mouth to argue, but Yuuri squeezed his hand. He’d worked it out an hour before, stumbling through the trees and seeing gray statues flit past beside the path. “Is he - that is, is Yuri...”

Otabek nodded. “The Creature you’re looking for is Yuri, yes. Wait here.” He turned on his heel and disappeared around the corner.

Yuuri threw his arms around Viktor, putting a hand on the back of his head as Viktor’s breathing turned rough. “It’s okay,” he murmured, rubbing Viktor’s shoulders with the other hand. “It’s okay, he’s alive, you found him.”

Viktor pulled back far enough to rest his forehead against Yuuri’s. His face was wet when Yuuri kissed him, and Yuuri slid his hand from Viktor’s neck to wipe the tear tracks away. Viktor took Yuuri’s hand in his own and kissed his fingers, dropping back into the embrace.

Yuuri could hear voices coming from the clearing, Otabek’s and an unfamiliar one, rough and angry. It took nearly a quarter of an hour, but eventually Otabek stepped back into view. “You can come through now. He has something over his eyes, so you won’t turn to stone. Come on.”

The clearing was larger than Yuuri had expected; he could see evidence of young trees having been uprooted or cut down around the sides to make more room. There was a horse tied to a tree at the far end, and in the middle was a young man, not more than twenty, a strip of cloth tied over his eyes. “Viktor?” the boy said. “Is that you?”

“Gods above, _Yura,_ ” Viktor breathed, and let go of Yuuri’s hand to run and sweep the Creature into a hug.

“I killed you,” Yuri said, pushing Viktor off. “I _killed you,_ I remember it, you turned to stone in front of me.”

“You didn’t,” Viktor said, not letting go of Yuri’s shoulders. “I turned to stone, but I was woken up, and we came looking for you. Yura, what _happened?_ ”

Yuri shrugged, but Yuuri could see his hands shaking at his sides. “Got cursed. Mouthed off to the wrong person, and they told me no one should ever have to listen to me again. I got knocked out, woke up in the forest, and then people kept turning to stone whenever I looked at them.” This time, when Viktor pulled him in, Yuri let him.

“What about you?” Yuuri asked Otabek, who was watching the reunion with an odd look in his eyes. “How did you find him?”

“I went looking for him,” Otabek said, “not for the Creature. The power is in his eyes, not on his skin - he has to look at someone for it to take effect, so people can catch sight of him and live to tell the tale. I started tracking reports of children or young men out in the forest and followed the trail here.” He caught Yuuri’s eye. “I’ve been trying to convince him to come back with me, see if we can get his curse lifted, but he’s reluctant. Doesn’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Yuuri said, looking back at the brothers, now sitting in the grass and talking quietly. “Viktor isn’t leaving here without him.”

“How far is the nearest waystation?” Otabek asked. “I came the other way, I haven’t seen one for weeks.”

“About two days, on foot,” Yuuri said. “It took us four, but we were combing the trees for the Creature. We could get there even faster with horses, but we can’t fit four on that one,” he added, nodding to the horse asleep at the treeline.

Otabek opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Viktor called out for Yuuri, taking his eyes off his brother for the first time to reach out to Yuuri. “This is the man who woke me. Katsuki Yuuri,” Viktor said, once Yuuri crouched down beside him. “Yuuri, this is my youngest brother.”

“Nice to meet you, name thief,” Yuri said, scowling under his blindfold.

Yuuri decided he liked this boy. “You as well, and I had it first.” The boy just scowled harder. “Do we have a plan yet?” Yuuri asked, turning to Viktor.

“I have about half of one,” Viktor said. Yuuri beckoned Otabek over. “You said a curse, right, Yura?” Viktor said. “It was definitely a curse?”

Yuri nodded. “Smelled like magic, like Georgi’s room after he started his potions phase. Why?”

“Because Georgi’s potions phase never ended,” Viktor said. Yuri sat up straighter. “When I left Father, Georgi had left for one of the towns outside the Capitol, studying under a witch there. Assuming he’s still alive, he may be able to break the curse.”

“Getting ahold of him will take ages,” Yuri said, “and I don’t want to go into civilization until this is cleared up.” He waved a hand at his blindfold.

“Not that long, actually,” Otabek said. “The mail system’s improved a lot since you both went missing, half of it’s magic these days. It would take a couple of days, a week at most to get a message to your brother, and then however long it would take him to travel here.”

“We can wait at the waystation, the innkeeper won’t panic if we explain beforehand,” Viktor said. “Yura? Will you come?”

Yuri frowned for a moment, then nodded. “Fuck it. It’s been ages since I’ve had a proper bed.” His voice was nonchalant, but Yuuri could see his fingers twitching against his thigh. “Let’s go.”

Otabek stood, brushing dirt off his knees. “I can take the horse to the waystation, let the innkeeper know the situation and that we have a message to send.”

“You don’t know the way,” Yuuri said, standing as well. “I’ll go. You stay with these two, and start making your way to the inn on foot. I can meet you there.”

Viktor followed him over to the horse. “I don’t like the idea of you going alone.”

Yuuri slung his pack into the saddlebag nearest him. “I’ll be fine, Viktor. If I leave now I’ll be there by nightfall. You’ll be there the next day.”

“With Yuri blindfolded, we may not be,” Viktor said, looking over his shoulder to where Otabek was packing Yuri’s meager belongings. “It may be the day after, assuming nothing goes wrong.”

“Either way.” Yuuri finished adjusting the saddle and turned to him. “We’ll all get there safely, Viktor. You’ll be traveling with the most dangerous thing in these woods, after all.” That got a half-hearted smile from Viktor, not at all the laugh Yuuri had been aiming for. Yuuri took his hand. “We’ll see each other again soon, Viktor. I should get going.”

Viktor kissed him, hard and desperate, and knelt to give Yuuri a boost into the saddle. “His last name is Popovich,” Viktor said, once Yuuri was settled. “Georgi Popovich.” He pressed Yuuri’s hand one last time, then let go, and Yuuri was off.

The innkeeper, a stern woman called Lilia, panicked rather more than Yuuri was expecting when he told her they had found the Creature and were bringing it back to her waystation, but eventually Yuuri managed to explain. He wrote a quick note to Popovich, explaining that Yuuri had found both of his brothers and his magical talents were needed. Lilia threw a handful of dust into the fire, turning it a bright purple, and Yuuri tossed the paper in. It would go to the Capitol, and from there be sent on to whatever town the official census had Popovich listed under, and then to his home. Assuming there were no clerical errors in the census, and that Popovich hadn’t moved since the last one, it should reach him in under two days.

The other three arrived nearly two days after Yuuri, in the dead of night. Yuuri awoke to the rustling of his sheets and blinked, turning over to find the vague outline of Viktor unlacing his boots. “Everything alright?” Yuuri mumbled, reaching out to touch his arm.

Viktor caught his hand and squeezed it. “Everything’s fine. Otabek and Yura are down the hall. Go back to sleep.”

Yuuri propped himself up on his elbow and sleepily pawed the air until he found Viktor’s shoulder. Viktor took the hint and kissed him, face still sweaty from the trek. “Sleep, my Yuuri,” Viktor said, and Yuuri obeyed.

Lilia came in just as Yuuri was settling in for breakfast, having reluctantly torn himself away from Viktor’s half-asleep kisses and warm arms. “You got a reply,” she said, handing him a folded piece of paper.

Yuuri dropped his fork and ripped it open. _I’ll be there in three weeks. If this is a prank, I will find you, and I will kill you slowly._ It was signed _GP._

“The rest of your party came in last night,” Lilia said, sitting down across from him. “Two men and a boy.” Yuuri nodded, and she went on. “The boy, the blindfolded one who is too skinny - he is the Creature you sought?”

Yuuri nodded again, swallowing his mouthful of porridge. “His name is Yuri. He’s been out here for nearly six years.”

“Hmm.” Lilia drummed her fingers on the table. “How long until the witch gets here?”

“Three weeks.”

Lilia hummed again, and then lapsed into silence. Yuuri continued to eat. “I will take a look at the boy’s curse,” Lilia said abruptly, nearly making Yuuri choke on his bread. “I do not have the supplies or the skill to remove it, but I will study it. Perhaps it will help the witch do his work faster.”

Yuuri coughed, reaching for his coffee and gulping it down. “He may not let you,” he finally managed to say. “He’s skittish, and understandably so.”

Lilia waved her hand and stood up. “Bah. He will let me. Find me when he wakes. I will be in the garden.”

She nodded to someone behind Yuuri as she left, and a moment later a warm weight was on his back, Viktor’s arms wrapping around his shoulders. “That smells wonderful,” Viktor said, voice still sleep-rough. Yuuri slid his bowl to one side, and Viktor pressed a kiss to his ear and dropped down next to him to finish the porridge.

“Georgi’s answer just came,” Yuuri said, picking up the note. “He’ll be here in three weeks. I’m to die a painful death if I’m lying to him.”

“Good thing you’re not,” Viktor said, before footsteps sounded in the hallway, and Otabek and Yuri came in, Otabek steering Yuri to the table and making for the food. “Good morning,” Viktor said as Otabek handed a bowl of porridge to Yuri. “Sleep well?” Yuri grunted, mouth already full, and Otabek nodded.

“Lilia says you’re to go see her after you eat,” Yuuri said. “She wants to start looking at your curse, see what she can find out before Georgi gets here.” Yuri frowned, but relaxed when Otabek put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s in the garden,” Yuuri added, and stood, holding out a hand to Viktor.

A few hours later, when Yuuri and Viktor emerged from their room for lunch, they caught sight of Lilia, Yuri, and Otabek through a window, still sitting in the garden. Lilia had Yuri’s chin in one hand and was pressing his forehead with the other, saying something to the two others that Yuuri couldn’t make out. Otabek noticed them and waved them over.

“I have an idea,” Lilia said, not looking up from Yuri’s blindfold. “Yuri is reluctant.”

“It involves _potentially turning you to stone,_ of course I’m reluctant,” Yuri snapped, pulling his head back.

“Nonsense,” Lilia snapped back. “I’m not a fool, I know my work. But if it bothers you that much, we will test it on these two.”

“Test what?” Viktor asked, looking between the two of them.

Otabek answered. “Lilia wants to get a look at Yuri’s eyes, to see if there’s any traces on the curse visible. She has something that can temporarily blind him, and the curse comes from his sight, so it should be fine.”

“ _Should be,_ ” Yuri muttered.

“That’s why Lilia wants to test it on you,” Otabek went on. “Because if it goes wrong, you can wake each other up.”

Yuuri turned to look at Viktor, but Viktor was already saying, “Do it. Yuuri’s already woken me up once, there’s no danger.”

“There is _so much danger_ -” Yuri started, leaning forward. Lilia grabbed his chin again and he stopped. “This will help?” he said quietly, after a moment.

“Unutterably,” Lilia said. “You want to be cured of your curse? This is the way.”

Yuri grimaced. “Fine. We’ll test it.”

Lilia let go of him. “Good. I have a small sample in my study. We can test it now, and I will prepare more powders for further work in the morning.”

The sample was a fine black powder, which Lilia smeared over Yuri’s eyelids with the tip of her little finger. “It hurts,” Yuri said.

Viktor started forward, but Lilia held up a hand. “This is necessary. It will pass, and when it has, you will be blinded for a quarter of an hour.”

“I can take it.” Yuri sat, tense, for several minutes, before saying, “It’s done.”

Lilia pulled Viktor down to sit in front of him, and beckoned Yuuri and Otabek back, out of his line of sight. “Open your eyes.” Yuri didn’t move, and Viktor looked over his head to meet Lilia’s gaze. “Open your eyes, Yuri,” Lilia repeated. “Fear has its time and place, but this is not it.”

Another few heartbeats, and then Viktor was beaming. “His eyes are open,” Viktor said. “It worked.”

“Satisfied?” Lilia asked the back of Yuri’s head, which nodded. “I will prepare more tonight. We will meet tomorrow to continue our work.”

\--

Like his brothers, Georgi Popovich arrived in the middle of the night, waking Yuuri from a dead sleep. Viktor was out of bed before Yuuri realized what was happening, and he stumbled into the common area to find him hugging a slightly shorter man, with jet-black hair and deep lines around his eyes. “Where is he?” Georgi asked after several minutes, pulling back and putting his hands on Viktor’s shoulders. “Where is Yuri?”

“I’m here,” Yuri said from the other side of the room. His blindfold was firmly in place and his knuckles were white on the doorframe. Otabek stood in his usual place, half a step behind him, arms crossed.

Georgi stared, blinking, and then said, “Do you want to get started now, or do you want to wait until morning?”

“Now,” Yuri said, fingers going impossibly tighter on the wood until Otabek reached out to loosen them. “Please.”

“In here.” Everyone turned to look at Lilia, standing just outside her study and clutching a sheaf of paper. “I have already begun studying the curse, I will tell you what I found. Come.”

Georgi clapped Viktor on the shoulder and went after her. Otabek managed, “Do you want me to -” before Yuri fumbled for the sleeve of his nightshirt and dragged him towards the sound of Lilia’s voice. She shut the door behind them, leaving Viktor and Yuuri alone in the common area.

“I’ll make the coffee,” Yuuri said. Viktor gave him a grateful, desperate look and sank into a chair by the cold fireplace.

Coffee made and fire built, Yuuri tucked himself into the too-small chair next to Viktor, half on his lap. Viktor wrapped an arm around his waist and put his face into Yuuri’s shoulder.

“You and your brothers look nothing alike,” Yuuri said quietly, after nearly an hour of silent waiting.

Viktor huffed a laugh. “We’re a bunch of foundlings, us and our sister. Father claims a cold and practical heart, but he keeps adopting strays, as it were. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d acquired three or four others in my absence.”

“He sounds lovely.”

Another laugh. “He really isn’t, he’s a grumpy old man at the best of times, but he means well, and he does his best by us.” Quietly, he added, “He fell to pieces after Yura disappeared. The gods only know what my disappearance did to him on top of it.”

Yuuri shifted to press a kiss to the top of his head. “You’ll see him soon enough.”

“And you’ll meet him.” Viktor tilted his head to catch Yuuri’s eye. “You will come, won’t you? To the Capitol?” He hesitated, and then, “You’ll stay with me?”

Yuuri sighed. He had a family, parents and a sister in a small town on the other side of the kingdom, one he hadn’t seen for years himself, but - “Yes,” he said, pressing his forehead to Viktor’s. “If you want me, I’ll stay with you.”

“Good.”

They must have drifted off despite their half-drunk coffee, because Yuuri and Viktor both startled awake when the door to the study opened and Georgi came out, rubbing a hand through his hair and yawning. “We’ve cracked it, I think. No, don’t get up,” he added, as Yuuri shifted to let Viktor out of the chair. “It’s not done yet, and I’m not one to disturb one’s rest in the arms of their beloved.” Yuuri flushed, but Viktor just grinned and tucked Yuuri back into his side.

“What still needs to be done?” Viktor asked, when it became clear that Georgi was more likely to drop off than explain further.

Georgi rubbed a hand over his eyes. “There are seven major types of curses. I know, the lore says that there are as many curses as there are spellcasters and situations, but really all of them fall into one of seven major categories. Thanks to Lilia’s work, we managed to narrow it down to one of the seven.”

“Is that enough?” Yuuri asked.

Georgi nodded. “It should be, especially given that the curse was placed six years ago and not maintained since then. There’s a generalized antidote potion cooking away now, Lilia’s keeping an eye on it. She’s a wonder,” he added, stifling a yawn. “Entirely self-taught, not even a hedgewitch as a tutor growing up.” Another yawn. “It’ll probably be done by dawn, if I had to guess. Then it needs a drop of blood from three willing people, another ten minutes on the fire, and we should be in business.” He slumped down, stretching out along the sofa he sat on.

“There’s a few more hours till dawn,” Yuuri murmured, standing up. “We should try and get some more sleep.”

Viktor stood as well, stretched, and walked over to the sofa. “Which three people?” he asked, poking Georgi in the head.

Georgi swatted at him without opening his eyes. “Goddess above, I forgot how irritating you are. It doesn’t really matter, although the stronger the emotional connection to the recipient the better, generally. Otabek’s already volunteered, and then you and me. Should be fine.”

Yuuri stepped forward when he saw Viktor’s mouth open, taking his hand before he could poke Georgi again. “Let him sleep,” he said, tugging Viktor back towards their room. “He’s had a long night. They’ll wake us when it’s time.”

Dawn blossomed in through the windows of Lilia’s study, fifteen minutes after Otabek had shaken Yuuri awake. Otabek, Viktor, and Georgi had bandages wrapped around their little fingers, and Yuri’s eyes were covered. Lilia dipped a finger into the potion they were all seated around, and let it drip back down into the bowl. “It’s time.” Yuri held out his hands and Lilia settled them on the bowl’s sides. “Drink slowly, but drink it all.”

Yuri drank, tipping his head back so far he nearly toppled over to get the last drops out. “Did it work?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Yuuri said, moving directly in front of the still-blindfolded boy and kneeling down opposite him. “We’ll have to test it. Everyone else get out of the room, or at least behind him.” Viktor made a small noise of protest, but was dragged back to the far wall by Georgi. “Okay. It’s just me. If it goes wrong, I can be woken up,” Yuuri said, rubbing his hands along his thighs and trying to sound more confident than he felt. “Look at me.”

Yuri’s eyes were very green. Yuuri held out his hand to him. “Nice to meet you, name thief.”

“I wear it better,” Yuri said faintly, reaching out to shake hands. “It doesn’t suit you at all.”

“Welcome back,” Otabek said, from behind Yuri. Yuri shot to his feet and spun around, and then both Viktor and Georgi were on him, hugging him hard enough to make him squawk in indignation.

**Epilogue**

For all Yakov Feltsman claimed a cold and practical heart, he wept, and loudly, when presented with his long-lost children. Outside, Yuuri, Lilia, and Otabek tended to the horses, studiously avoiding each others’ eyes. “What will you do now?” Yuuri asked Otabek, when the horses were rubbed down and fed and their gear cleaned to a shine.

Otabek shrugged. “I’ll stay with Yuri, if he’ll have me. I have no plans beyond that.”

“I’m sure he will.” Yuri had barely gone five feet from Otabek’s side the whole journey back to the Capitol, and when they weren’t talking he was staring. Yuuri doubted that the thought of parting had entered Yuri’s mind at all.

“What about you?” Otabek asked.

Yuuri shuddered. “Viktor’s insisting on meeting my family, so I imagine we’ll be off there as soon as his father lets him out of his sight again.”

“That will not be for a while,” Lilia put in with a snort. “Your parents may have to come here.”

Yuuri had to concede the point. “And you, Lilia? Back to your inn?”

Lilia shook her head. “That was created to help hunt the Creature, and the Creature has now been hunted. No, I will stay as well.” Her smile turned wicked for a moment. “Yakov and I used to know each other. It seems now is the time for us to reconnect.”

Yuuri bit down on the inside of his cheek, and looked over to see Otabek stifling his own grin.

The door of the little house opened, and Viktor leaned out. “Come meet Father,” he called, beckoning to the three of them - to Yuuri - with a grin. Yuuri felt an answering one break out across his own face, and went.

**Author's Note:**

> Come cry with me on [Tumblr](http://thewalrus-said.tumblr.com) about these beautiful dorks who love each other!


End file.
